The Latest: 1M gallons of sewage spilled in Nantucket

By The Associated Press

Jan 05, 2018 | 7:52 PM

Icicles and a sheet of ice cover a burned out vehicle parked adjacent to a building that caught fire, Friday, Jan. 5, 2018, in Newark, N.J. The fire broke out in a vacant structure in Newark early Friday morning in the area of 9th Avenue and South 14th Street and spread to two adjacent structures. Gusty winds carried the flames to two buildings across the street. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

The Latest on winter weather (all times local):

7:45 p.m.

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Massachusetts emergency officials say more than 1 million gallons of untreated sewage has spilled into Nantucket Harbor after a "catastrophic" sewer main break.

They say the 20-inch mainfailed Thursday in several places on the island off the coast of Cape Cod, and they still were working to fix it Friday amid frigid temperatures.

Nantucket Health Department director Roberto Santamaria tells WBZ-AM they had no choice but to let the sewage flow into the harbor because otherwise, it would back up into homes and create a major health crisis. He says the harbor is covered in ice, so they can't put out booms to keep the sewage contained.

Because ferries to the island were canceled, the Massachusetts National Guard had to fly repair crews out to the island by helicopter.

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7 p.m.

Dozens of cars were totaled in a Massachusetts town after they were left in a high school parking lot during a fierce winter storm, and then a storm surge submerged the lot under a few feet of salt water.

An estimated 50 cars were destroyed Thursday in the parking lot of Gloucester (GLOS'-ter) High School, north of Boston. Many residents had parked their cars there during the storm because of a parking ban on city streets.

Photos of the lot showed rows of cars submerged in water, some up to their roofs .

There was so much water that some cars were floating . Some became encased in ice, and some had their windows broken.

City officials say the cars can't be salvaged. They're telling owners to call their insurance companies.

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3 p.m.

Police say an employee of the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority died while cleaning up after the winter storm that dumped more than a foot of snow on parts of the state.

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Arlington police tell WFXT-TV that the employee, who they did not publicly identify, went into cardiac arrest and was found in a snowbank at a facility for the water authority early Friday.

The employee was taken to Mount Auburn Hospital, and was pronounced dead.

The authority issued a statement saying that its entire staff extends their thoughts and prayers to the person's family and friends.

The agency provides drinking water and sewage services to more than 60 cities and towns.

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2:15p.m.

Wintry weather didn't keep a Rhode Island man from driving through town in his convertible.

WPRI-TV reports the roof on John Pratt's Mercedes-Benz has been broken for about a month. He tried to get the lipstick red luxury car to the repair shop Thursday morning, as a massive storm dumped more than a foot of snow in parts of the state.

But his chilly open-air ride turned into an icy predicament when his car got stuck. Onlookers took video, which then made the rounds on social media.

The episode left the Cranston man and his car covered in snow.

Pratt blames his 16-year-old son for the broken roof. He says he doesn't mind the trouble because people got a few laughs out of it.

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1:40 p.m.

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker is getting a firsthand look at storm damage on the coast.

Baker visited with officials Friday in Scituate, one of dozens of coastal communities that reported flooding at the height of Thursday's fierce winter storm.

The Republican governor discussed ongoing efforts to fortify portions of a seawall that have been breached during this and previous storms. He also took time to personally thank restaurant owner Stephan Hill. The businessman rushed out on to a pier during the storm to rescue Scituate's harbormaster, who had fallen into the icy waters while trying to secure a boat.

Dianne Davis says her seaside home was "completely surrounded" by ocean water during the storm, but she was able to ride it out along with neighbors.

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1:10 p.m.

New Jersey police say a teenager is dead and dozens of residents of an apartment building as well as police officers were sickened by carbon monoxide during this week's snowstorm.

Perth Amboy police say at least 35 people were treated for carbon monoxide poisoning, including at least seven police officers. Three relatives of the 13-year-old girl killed — a man in his 40s, a 21-year-old woman and a 14-year-old girl — remain in critical condition after the exposure at a 12-unit building Thursday afternoon.

The city put displaced residents in a hotel Thursday night. Firefighters were searching for the source of the carbon monoxide.

Authorities say they are looking to see if carbon monoxide detectors in the building worked.

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12:30 p.m.

A person walks a dog past plowed snow as wind-whipped snow swirls in Boston's Seaport district on Friday, Jan. 5, 2018, following Thursday's snowstorm. Frigid temperatures, some that could feel as cold as minus 30 degrees, moved across the East Coast on Friday as the region attempted to clean up from a massive winter storm that brought more than a foot of snow, hurricane-force winds and coastal flooding a day earlier. (AP Photo/Bill Sikes)

The East Coast snowstorm this week was about as bad as the winter storms they get in Alaska — at least according to one man who survived it.

Jess Flarity is a 32-year-old student from Seattle who was visiting a friend in Concord, New Hampshire, when he got stranded overnight because bus service was canceled.

He said Friday as he sat in the bus station that he's spent some time in Alaska and described Thursday's storm as "Alaska-quality."

He's heading to Portland, Maine, for a 10-day creative writing program just as sub-zero temperatures are hitting. He says he likes the snow and the cold weather and is prepared. He says he's been in minus 60-degree temperatures in Alaska, so minus 20 doesn't frighten him.

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12:20 p.m.

Maine authorities are searching for a clammer who disappeared during the blizzard.

The man was reported missing around 11 p.m. Thursday.

The U.S. Coast Guard says the family of 35-year-old Paul Brenner said he had departed from St. George at 5 p.m. Thursday to clam on Clark Island.

The Coast Guard says Brenner was reported to be in a 16-foot skiff that matches the description of an unmanned skiff found near Long Cove on Thursday night.

The Maine Marine Patrol and local authorities also are searching the area by water, foot and air. St. George is a coastal area about 46 miles (74 kilometers) southeast of Augusta.

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11:30 a.m.

Authorities have confirmed a fourth North Carolina death because of this week's winter storm.

Surf City Police Chief Ron Shanahan released a statement saying officers found a vehicle submerged in a canal during the storm early Thursday and were investigating the cause. Shanahan said 20-year-old Dax Christopher Baker was found dead inside.

State Emergency Management spokesman Keith Acree says investigators have determined the winter storm caused the driver to slide off the road and into the canal.

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10:50 a.m.

The icy flooding on many Boston streets during this week's storm was caused by a record high tide.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration verified Friday that water levels at the federal agency's Boston tide gauge reached a peak of 4.89 feet above the average of highest tide readings for the day.

That broke the record of 4.82 feet above, set during the infamous Blizzard of '78 in February of that year.

The flooding sent large trash containers floating down Boston streets, forced the shutdown of a subway station as water cascaded down the steps and prompted rescues of people trapped in cars and homes in Boston and several other Massachusetts communities by rapidly rising waters.

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10:45 a.m.

The New England Patriots are trying to keep the homeless warm as a fresh blast of arctic air grips the region.

The team says it's donating more than 1,200 blankets that fans used to keep warm during Sunday's frigid 26-6 win over the New York Jets at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts.

Fans were encouraged to leave their blankets behind, and stadium employees cleaned them.

Team representatives plan to distribute some to Boston's Pine Street Inn, which offers shelter and other services to the homeless.

The Patriots say the rest of the blankets, along with some hats and gloves, will be given to homeless shelters in each of the five other New England states.

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10:30 a.m.

A massive passenger plane had to land at a small New York airport because of runway closures at Kennedy Airport during the winter storm.

WNYW reports that the Airbus A380 landed at 12:25 p.m. Thursday on a snowy runway at Stewart International Airport in New Windsor.

The Singapore Airlines flight originated in Frankfurt, Germany.

The runway was long enough, but the gates were too small for the plane. Passengers took a portable stairwell onto the tarmac and walked into the airport building. Then the airline provided ground transportation.

Stewart is about 75 miles (120 kilometers) from Kennedy.

The Airbus A380 can carry from 535 passengers to more than 850, depending on its configuration.

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9:50 a.m.

Airports in the Northeast are coming alive again a day after a snowstorm forced the cancellation of hundreds of flights.

A woman passes an ice-covered fountain in New York's Bryant Park, Friday, Jan. 5, 2018. Frigid temperatures, some that could feel as cold as minus 30 degrees, moved across the East Coast on Friday as the region attempted to clean up from a massive winter storm. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

Flights in and out of Logan International Airport in Boston resumed Friday, and business is expected to pick up as the day progresses. A spokeswoman says the airport is waiting for many airlines to send jets to the facility.

Flights also have resumed at New York's Kennedy Airport and Bradley Airport in Connecticut.

Officials at LaGuardia Airport in New York are encouraging travelers to use public transit because heavy passenger volumes are expected as airlines resume flights.

The airports recommend that passengers check with their airline to get a flight status update before setting out.

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9:30 a.m.

Firefighters in Newark are working to extinguish a fire that started in a vacant building then spread to two adjacent structures before gusty winds carried the flames across the street to two more buildings.

The fire that has engulfed five buildings started early Friday morning. Two firefighters have received minor injuries.

Firefighters also had to battle two other blazes in bitter cold weather in the city.

There's no word how many residents have been displaced or what caused the fires.

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8:20 a.m.

Authorities say a 64-year-old Ohio man whose body was found on the front porch of his home by a meal delivery driver froze to death.

The Akron Beacon Journal reports the Summit County Medical Examiner's Office on Thursday confirmed that Darnell Wilson, of Akron, died of hypothermia.

His body was found Tuesday by a woman delivering food for the Mobile Meals program. The high temperature in Akron reached just 14 degrees that day.

It's unclear how long Wilson had been on the partially enclosed porch before his body was found.

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6 a.m.

Bitter cold air sweeping across New Jersey is slowing the process of digging out from a major snowstorm that blanketed the state.

Snow has been cleared on the state's major highways, however motorists are advised to use caution because of icy spots. Speeds have been reduced on the Betsy Ross, Commodore Barry, Ben Franklin and Walt Whitman bridges.

Many schools are closed or have delayed openings Friday as road crews try to clear local streets.

Most of the snow from Thursday's storm fell in the southern part of the state, with Cape May Court House receiving 17 inches (43 centimeters). Colts Neck in saw 15 inches (38 centimeters).

A wind chill advisory is effect for the state until Saturday.

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5:35 a.m.

A New York City children's hospital has made sure its patients don't miss out on winter fun by carting in buckets of snow for the kids to play with and enjoy.

St. Mary's Healthcare System for Children in Queens brought in plenty of snow for the children who are patients there to build snowmen or go sledding indoors during the Thursday snowstorm. Images posted to the hospital's Facebook page show one patient making a table-sized snowman — complete with a hat and scarf.

A hospital spokeswoman tells WNBC-TV that St. Mary's is one of only a few hospitals in the country that specializes in long-term care for children with special needs and life-limiting conditions.

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2:50 a.m.

Authorities say a girl struck by a pickup truck while sledding and a 75-year-old man hit by a snow plow while clearing business parking lots have died in Virginia in the aftermath of the East Coast snowstorm.

Police in Chesterfield County, a suburb of Richmond, Virginia, say the girl was sledding down a driveway when she slid into a road and was hit by the pickup truck Thursday. Police say in a statement that the driver immediately stopped and that the girl was taken to a hospital where she died of her injuries. The girl wasn't immediately identified.

In the greater Hampton area of southeast Virginia, authorities told The Virginia-Pilot that a 75-year-old private contractor, Barry Hale, was hit by the plow shortly after midday Thursday while clearing snow from parking lots in Buckroe. He died at a local hospital of his injuries. A police statement says the Virginia Department of Labor will conduct a follow-up investigation.

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1 a.m.

East Coast residents are bracing for a deep freeze a day after a winter storm dumped as much as 18 inches of snow (46 centimeters) and unleashed bitter cold, hurricane-force winds and historic coastal flooding from the Carolinas to Maine.

Forecasters say Friday will bring a blast of record-breaking cold air and bitter winds that could make it feel as low as minus 15 degrees throughout much of the Northeast this weekend.

National Weather Service meteorologist Brian Hurley says mid-Atlantic states can expect temperatures in the teens while the Northeast's coastal areas will see temperatures in the single digits.

He says the South won't be spared the cold weather, either.

The frigid temperatures should persist through Sunday, when the Northeast residents will feel potentially record-breaking cold.

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